Veloce Raptor

And I agree 10000%

pu911rsr

I used to go to F1 races just to hear the motors scream, breathtaking

Nizer

Wait until Formula REV takes over...

okie981

The beating heart and screaming lungs of a racing engine at its finest. Love it.

LuigiVampa

When my daughter was little she described the sound of an F1 car as a "swarm of very angry bees".

okie981

Cool how children can zero in on things with simple but completely accurate descriptions.

Carrera51

My only experience seeing F1 live was at Indy in 2000. The sounds of the MB V10 in the back of the McLaren was breathtaking when they came down the front straight. Sounded the best of all of them even the Ferraris and it was prior to the FIA capping the RPMs. That year it was rumored the BMW was turning over 19K RPMs, the the McLaren Mercedes sounded the best.

multi21

My first experience watching F1 live was also at Indy but in 2001. You felt the sound of 20 F1 V10s screaming down the front straight on the first lap and the sound reverberating off the metal bleachers in your body.... It's something one will never forget. Also, this was pre double clutch gear boxes so when they approached Turn 1, there was a big BANG, BANG, BANG which sounded like thunder. No amount of big screen TV with surround sound could duplicate what you heard live.

okie981

There is no experience like being there. Not that it's any comparison to F1, but watching the NASCAR pack come around for the start of Talledega in person I could relate to where the name for the movie Days of Thunder came from. The giant pack of cars breaking the air I guess created so much turbulence you can actually hear what sounds like mild thunder before the exhaust sound got so close it drowned out the thunder sound. If that's not what was causing the sound, I don't know what else it could have been. Heard it at Daytona too for the start.

And then there's the guttural experience of being anywhere trackside when Top Fuel or Funny Car engines make their full throttle runs down the 1,000 foot strip. The sound literally pushes air in and out of your lungs. If you have never experienced it, it is worth doing at least once. Take hearing protection.

I heard the F1 cars at COTA in 2012 and 2013 before the hybrid era brought us the sound of suppressed 4-stroke lawn trimmers. 2012 was my first live F1 race. I'll never forget as I drove past the airport to the track on Friday for P1, hearing the screaming engines all the way to where the turnpike crosses the road to COTA. And the sound the intake/exhaust made as the throttle was modulated through corners. Intoxicating.

mlct

My only in person Gran Prix was in 1971 at Watkins Glen. I still remember the different sounds of the cars coming down the hill into Turn 6 then on up the toe of the boot. You could tell the difference between the Cosworth V8, the Matra V12, and the Ferrari flat 12 before you even saw the cars. I still remember that every time I am lucky enough to drive there.

Not sure it makes as much difference on TV but that V10 did sound loud!

CCA

Sooo, you had her at a Spec Miata race... Angry slow bees, but a swarm none-the-less

cobradvm

I'm bummed out I missed out on the F1 cars of the 70s and 80s.
I have been to NHRA racing and that is worth at least seeing one time for the Top Fuel dragsters. I was able to get into the Al Anabi hospitality tent which was right beside where they rebuilt the engines in between passes - fascinating to watch them break them down and then put them back together. The noise and concussion from the Top Fuel guys going down the drag strip has to be experienced in person at least once.

skl

I don't remember seeing you there... was my first F1 race live (was supposed to go to Watkins Glen in 1974 with a friend but couldn't ditch medical school classes- those professors just didn't get it!) and went with another friend who I raced spec Miatas with. We were going to be big boys and not wear ear plugs. That lasted about 10 seconds needless to say. Held my phone up at the start to let my kids hear it back at home...

Then a few years later went with my boys to Austin. It was the start of the hybrid cars and they sounded like sh*t- we were SO disappointed as the medical car sounded better than the F1 cars! Sad... With all the PC crap now in F1 and the FIA I don't see it ever improving. We'll just have to go to historic races.

winders

I had a photographer pass for three races at Long Beach ('79, '80, and '81). In '79 the Ferrari's and Alpha's sounded fantastic!

I loved the sound of the drivers heel/toe'ing and matching revs. Formula 1 should go back to manual boxes and three pedals.....

CCA

F1 needs to ditch the FIA as a sanctioning body and get away from those bureaucratic fools telling people (fans, drivers, constructors) what they will like.